Albemarle County developer faces two misdemeanors for 800-acre blaze

Local developer Alex Toomy has been charged with two misdemeanors after a brush fire swelled and burned 800 acres of Albemarle County land near the Ragged Mountain Farm subdivision. Toomy faces charges of burning before 4pm and carelessly damaging property by fire—a barn that contained a tent and a boat. The charges carry a possible $750 in fines; Toomy, who is slated for a March 28 appearance in court, told local media that he planned to contest the charges.

An e-mail from county spokesperson Lee Catlin says the Ragged Mountain fire "put over 40 homes and families at risk." Those homes happen to be located in Ragged Mountain Farm (map), where Toomy’s employer, MacMillan Pace Builders, is constructing homes.

Catlin asks county residents to mind high wind, low humidity days—conditions that might speed a brush fire’s spread. Local fire fighters, as well as support from surrounding counties and the Virginia Department of Forestry, took three days to quell the blaze.

By Celeste M. Smucker– Welcome to our annual public schools feature! This comprehensive article with overviews written by each of the school districts provides information about the host of educational opportunities available to students in Charlottesville City, Waynesboro and surrounding

Family Night Sky Festival Monday, August 21 This festival includes various events from Friday, August 18 to Monday, August 21, culminating in a solar eclipse viewing at 2:40pm Monday. $25 per vehicle park entry, good for seven days. Various times. Shenandoah National Park, 3655 U.S. Hwy. 211 E.

Summer may be over, but the fun doesn’t have to stop there. After the beach trips and visits to train museums, the start of the school year brings its own kind of magic, between new supplies and unfamiliar faces and environments. In this issue, we’re checking in with public schools—what changed

In P.L. Travers’ Mary Poppins series, the beloved nanny is blown by the East wind to Number 17 Cherry Tree Ln., home of the Banks family, which just happens to need a nanny at that very moment. Mary agrees to stay “till the wind changes.” Under her stern but loving care, Jane and Michael Banks

As temperatures drop and water attractions become less appealing, don’t let that keep you from venturing outdoors. Whether it’s soaring through a Shenandoah Valley forest, soaking up Blue Ridge Mountain views or exploring area biking trails, these four family-friendly activities will get you

The Lawn was illuminated in soft white candlelight last night as thousands of community members retraced the steps of the August 11 white nationalist tiki torch march from the University of Virginia’s Nameless Field to the Rotunda. Their message was of love and peace, and taking back what

It was the day that kept getting worse. The weekend from hell. Like many of you, C-VILLE Weekly is still processing Saturday’s violation from ill-intentioned visitors with antiquated notions who now believe it’s okay to say in broad daylight what they’ve only uttered in the nether regions of

Droves of community members clothed in shades of purple poured into the Paramount Theater August 16 to remember Heather Heyer, a local activist and paralegal who lost her life to what some have called an act of domestic terror the weekend before. “They tried to kill my child to shut her up.

The old adage “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” rings particularly true in 2017. You don’t have to search hard to find parallels between the current sociopolitical landscape and the one that served as a catalyst for the counterculture movement of the 1960s. This observation

You might know Stan Lee from his countless cameos in blockbuster Marvel movies or from the familiar characters he created (Hulk, Thor, Iron Man, the X-Men and Spider-Man, to name a few). But you’ll really get to know the iconic comic book writer by watching Extraordinary: Stan Lee, a nostalgic

Charlottesville is a cozy little city. Most of the time, we know our neighbors—enough to recognize their kids or their pets, maybe catch snippets about their lives at work or play. But what if the guy down the street turned out to be the commander of an invading fleet of warships? Or the girl

Small bills and big attitudes are the welcome norm for Charlottesville Lady Arm Wrestling competitions, where the “arm wrasslin’ and acting foolish” pairs up with a local charity for a raucous balance of competition, camp and community support. Proceeds from this match go to Brave Souls on

Improvisation on viola, atmospheric cello and lush acoustics fill a unique bill of songwriters: Touring veteran Dina Maccabee (violinist, violist and vocalist) loops depth, space and complexity into the songs from her new album, The World is in the Work. Cellist, vocalist and composer Janel

She’s such a delightful dog, and you were lucky to find her at the shelter that day. But what exactly is she? Her cheese-curl tail evokes a shiba inu. Those droopy ears are all spaniel. And only a schnauzer could have gifted her those magnificent eyebrows. Everyone who meets her spots another

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band is no small venture—the 13-piece group backs Lovett on everything from violin to guitar to trombone, swinging through jazz and pickin’ out country with a variety of crowd-pleasers. With 14 records and almost four decades of touring, the four-time Grammy winner

Who would have known a prequel series to a reboot of a movie based on a book based on a hoax would boast some of the most delightful big-budget horror filmmaking in recent memory? The Annabelle series is one that should not work; kids, spooky dolls and overexplained mythologies are typically

Two days after he plowed into a group of peaceful counterprotesters with his car, white nationalist James Alex Fields Jr. appeared via webcam in Charlottesville General District Court Monday morning. The Maumee, Ohio, man, 20, is charged with second-degree murder, three counts of malicious

Make them pay If the alt-right wants another permit to demonstrate in Charlottesville, why not charge a fee of about $75,000 to $100,000? The KKK rally cost city taxpayers almost 60 grand, and this last weekend will cost even more. If the city is accused of price gouging, it can always argue

A month ago during the July 8 KKK rally, police were accused of overreacting and escalating things when they deployed tear gas on protesters at an event that was already breaking up. At the August 12 Unite the Right rally, they faced the opposite complaint: That they stood and watched assaults

Photos taken during the Unite the Right rally and counterprotest at Emancipation Park, as well as the alt-right gathering at McIntire Park, and demonstrations at Justice Park and the Downtown Mall area today. Photos by Eze Amos, Lisa Provence, Jessica Luck, Hawkins Dale and Aaron Cohen.